Indian man's body pulled out of Turkey hotel rubble, family identifies him with tattoo

The body of Vijay Kumar Pokhriyal who was missing since the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey was pulled out of the rubble of the hotel he had checked into on January 22. His family members back home identified it with the tattoo on his left arm as they saw the photographs shared with them from Turkey.

Kotdwar (Uttarakhand): The body of the Indian citizen killed in Turkey's devastating earthquake was on Saturday pulled out of the rubble of the hotel he was staying in. Vijay Kumar Pokhriyal (35) was the only Indian who was caught in the February 6 earthquake. His body was found in the debris of the multi-story Hotel Avasar in the eastern Anatolia region city of Malatya early Saturday.

Vijay's family in Uttarakhand identified his body through a tattoo on his left arm as they saw it from the photographs sent from the rescue site. Kumar had been staying at the hotel since January 23, 2023, as he was in Turkey for an official project. He was scheduled to be in Turkey until mid-February.

Kumar was a gas pipeline installation engineer for Bengaluru-based Oxyplants India, based in Peenya Industrial Estate. He was a native of Kotdwar in Uttarakhand and was incommunicado since the earthquake, which, so far, has claimed over 24,000 lives. On Friday morning, his passport and belongings were recovered from the rubble of the hotel where he was believed to have stayed, but he was still missing.

The Indian embassy in Turkey said they were making arrangements for bringing the mortal remains back to India. "We inform with sorrow that the mortal remains of Shri Vijay Kumar, an Indian national missing in Turkiye since the February 6 earthquake, have been found and identified among the debris of a hotel in Malatya, where he was on a business trip. Our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. We are making arrangements for the earliest possible transportation of his mortal remains to his family," the embassy tweeted on Saturday.

• We inform with sorrow that the mortal remains of Shri Vijay Kumar, an Indian national missing in Turkiye since February 6 earthquake, have been found and identified among the debris of a hotel in Malatya, where he was on a business trip.@PMOIndia @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia
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  — India in Türkiye (@IndianEmbassyTR) February 11, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  We inform with sorrow that the mortal remains of Shri Vijay Kumar, an Indian national missing in Turkiye since February 6 earthquake, have been found and identified among the debris of a hotel in Malatya, where he was on a business trip.@PMOIndia @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia
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  — India in Türkiye (@IndianEmbassyTR) February 11, 2023

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  We inform with sorrow that the mortal remains of Shri Vijay Kumar, an Indian national missing in Turkiye since February 6 earthquake, have been found and identified among the debris of a hotel in Malatya, where he was on a business trip.@PMOIndia @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia
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  — India in Türkiye (@IndianEmbassyTR) February 11, 2023

Vijay's elder brother Arun said that they received the information from the Turkish Embassy that Vijay's body had been recovered. Ever since Vijay's disappearance, his elder brother was in constant contact with the Indian Embassy. The Embassy, according to Vijay's brother, informed them that the body would reach India in three days.

Vijay had left for Turkey from Bangalore on January 22. Since the terrible earthquake in Turkey, Vijay's family members were unable to contact him. Arun said that before the earthquake, he used to contact them every day through video calls. But, since February 6, he was incommunicado. The body, Arun said, was being brought to Istanbul by road.